Gate-latch



(No Mod-e1.)

J. A. LINDBERG. GATB'LATGH.

No. 438,481. Patented Oct. 14, 1890.

M Fay. 5.

@W4 BY ATTORNEYS.

rUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. LINDBERG, OF DAYTON, IOVA.

GATE-LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 438,481, dated October 14, 1890.

Application tiled February l1, 1890. Serial No- 340,051. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. LINDBERG, of Dayton, in the county of Vebster and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gate-Latches, of which the following is a full, clear and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvementJ in gate-latches, and has for its object to provide a latch especially adapted for attachment to light gates-such as wire gates--and also to provide a device of simple and durable construction and capable of convenient and expeditious manipulation.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication, in which similar letters and iigures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the vlews.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a gate and a gate-post having my latch applied, with the lock-lever removed. Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the latch and a portion of the gate and gate-post,illustratingin positive lines the first position of the lock-lever and in dotted lines the second or locked position. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the gatepost, illustrating the gate-post, the keeper attached thereto, and the lock-lever fulcrumed y in the keeper; and Fig. et is a detail perspective view of the lock-lever.

In carrying out the invention a hook 10 is provided with a bifurcat-ed shank 11, the members whereof are adapted to engage with opposite sides of the front gate-standard 12, and the said members of the bifurcated shank 11 are provided, preferably, with a longitudinal slot 13, through which slots a pin 14 extends fast in the said gate standard, as best illustrated in Fig. 2. One member of the bifurcated shank 11 is ordinarily made longer than the other, and to this longer member one end of a wire 15 is rigidly secured, the other end of the Wire being attached to the rear gatestandard, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Upon the face of the gate-post 16, opposed to the front gate-standard when the gate is in its closed position, a keeper 17 is fastened. This keeper 17 is located immediately opposite to the hook l and comprises a base-plate a, from opposite sides of whicha luga is carried outward at a right angle to the plate, each of which lugs has produced in its upper edge near the outer end an inclined slot a2, which slots are preferably made to incline downward and outward.

In connection with the hook and keeper I employ a lock-lever 18, (illustrated in detail in Fig. 4,) comprising, preferably, a round bar of iron or a stout wire rod bent upon itself to form two vertical members l) and b', an upper bow-section and a U-shaped arm b2 extending at a right angle inward from the said bow-section, as best shown in Fig L1. The lower extremity of each of the members b and b are carried outward at a right angle, as illustrated at b3, the direction ofI the lower arms thus obtained being the reverse of the upper U -shaped arm b2.

In operation the bow-section of the locklever is made to enter the slots a2 in the keeper, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and the upper U-shaped arm extending outward from between the lugs a2 of the keeper is made to engage with the hook 10. To loc-k the gate, the members b and b of the lock-lever are carried upward, describing more than a halfcircle, and the said lever thus rests in an inclined position, the lower extremities of the members b3 swinging' as handles, as illustrated in Fig. 2. This movement of the lock-lever carries the U-shaped arminward between the lugs of the keeper, and the hook is also carried inward against the tension of the Wire 15, to which itis attached. Itwill be readily observed that when the hook and the U -shaped arm of the lock-lever are carried inward, as described, the line of draft will be below the fulcrum-point of the lever, thereby effecting a perfect lock, and by reason of the inclination of the slots CL2 in the keeper the lock-lever fulcrumed therein is prevented from riding out of the same. To unlock the gate, it is simply necessary to throw the members of the lock-lever a slight distance in the direcltion of the gate, or until the line of draft is above or within the fulcrum-point of the lever, whereupon the tension of the Wire will automatically draw the lever downward to the unlocked position illustrated in positive lines in Fig. 2.

IOO

Having thus described my in vention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a gate-latch, the combination, with a hook capable of lateral movement upon a gate-standard, of a keeper provided with outwardly-extending spaced arms having slots produced therein, and a lock-lever fulcrumed in the slots ofthe keeper, comprising aV body bers, an upper bow-section, and a horizontal U-shaped arm integral with the said bow-section, extending outward at a right angle therefrom and adapted for contact with the hook, all combined for operation substantially as shown and described.

The combination, with a hook adapted for attachment to a gate, and a keeper coinprising a base-plate and spaced arms extended outward therefrom, each arm provided with a diagonal slot, of a lock-lever fulcrulned in the slots of the keeper, comprising an essentially straight body provided with an essentialiy U-shaped arm extending outward at a right angle from a point at or near the fulcrum, and with arms b3 b3 at its opposite ends, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

JOHN A. LINDBERG. Witnesses:

SAML. BUNNQUIST, HENRY OLSON. 

